For the last couple months Ana has been spending every spare moment planting seeds, repotting seedlings, and preparing the soil of our garden. Now planting time is almost over. Now comes the hardest time of all – waiting for the plants to grow.
Things are pretty much out of Ana’s hands at this point. As much as she’d like to, Ana can’t control the weather. She can’t send the rain or set the temperature. She has no say in how fast a plant grows or how much fruit it produces. For the most part she just has to sit back and wait, hope and pray.
Having children is a lot like planting a garden. We try to give our children a good start, provide a caring home environment, and make sure their needs are met. We invest in their education, surround them with love, and prepare them for the future the best we can. There comes a time, however, when there’s not much else we can do. Things are pretty much out of our hands and we just have to wait to see how they turn out.
Sometimes things go well, but at other times our kids can get a little off course. Those are the tough times for a parent. It hurts so much when these children we love so much make poor decisions, choosing a path we know will only bring them harm. We only want the best for them, but that’s not always in our control.
In times like these, when our children are growing in directions we’d prefer they didn’t take, God’s promise in Proverbs 22:6 can mean so much. God says there, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (NKJV)
This doesn’t mean they won’t wander at times, sending off an errant shoot in a direction you didn’t want them to go. We all sometimes get off track, but just like Ana redirects a wandering vine back on the trellis where it belongs, so God will do all He can to lead our children back to the way they should go.
Remember, God loves our children even more than we do and He will pull out all the stops to save them and help them grow in their walk with Him. So don’t be discouraged. God’s not done with them yet. The same God who “began the good work in [them], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6 NLT).
Gardens take time to grow and so do children (even after they’ve grown up). Sometimes the waiting time can be hard, but, remember, you gave your children a good start. Now let God do the rest. The Master Gardener’s still at work. Put your children in His hands today. There’s no safer place for them to be.